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Archive: December, 2011
The quiet stretch of Passyunk Avenue at South Street could become a pedestrian plaza by next spring, according to an announcement by South Street Headhouse District. The district said it has won one of the Pedestrian Plaza grants being awarded by the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities, to turn more underutilized streets around the city into versatile public spaces.
Of course, there's already some grumbling in the neighborhood about potential exacerbation of traffic issues along this already-congested stretch of South Street. No architect has yet been selected and the plan is still in its infancy, according to Krystal Souvanlasy of the SSHD. However, the below schematic posted on the forum PhiladelphiaSpeaks.com offers at least one vision for what the plaza might entail.
Here's something that's really important that you probably don't understand (I sure didn't): redistricting in Pennsylvania.
State Rep. Babette Josephs (D-Phila) is accusing right-wing State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) and Republican Majority Leader Mike Turzai of "push[ing] through a Congressional map that the public will have little to no time to examine or provide input on how it will affect their communities. This is not democracy. It is dictatorship."
Indeed, the redistricting bill, which Metcalfe announced they would vote on next week, has basically no content: no maps, no details. Just sentences like "The First District is composed of a portion of this Commonwealth."
So what is going on?
Just about everyone agrees that selling off blighted city-owned land is critical to Philly's future. But when the neighbors aren't notified — and when they've devoted countless weekends to turning that vacant land into community gardens — things become decidedly less clear-cut.
That's the case at 405-11 Manton Street in South Philly, where residents have spent the last seven months weeding, cleaning and planting, turning what they say was an overgrown vacant lot into a community garden and pocket park. At the same time, the land was being cleared for sale by City Council Ordinance 110384 and placed on the auction block.
Now, the park-tenders have launched a petition, are planning a protest and have been visiting City Council representatives, urging them to do what they can to stop the sale. Jessica Calter of The Friends of Manton Street Park and Community Garden says she's been informed that the auction has concluded, but that the high bidder hasn't yet made a settlement. Getting information from the city has been a challenge, according to Calter, who found out of the pending sale only by accident. "A couple weeks ago, one of our members saw building surveyors in the park and asked them what was going on. They said they were surveying for a building structure to be built — and that’s what began our investigation."
The rally will take place this Sunday afternoon at the park. Full details below:
Paul Klemmer, a homeless carpenter who had been living at Dilworth Plaza — and is now residing in a tent beneath I-95 with other homeless people who left that camp — has written this letter about his and his companions' plight.
Klemmer, along with a couple dozen other homeless who had been living among Occupy Philly members, quietly relocated to land owned by Conrail, in Port Richmond. When they were evicted from their initial camp, they relocated again — to a parking lot beneath I-95, owned by PennDOT, where they remain as of press time. While PennDOT officials indicated they would have to leave today, CP found the camp remaining late this afternoon.
(Check out my recent piece about how Occupy Philly provided the cover some homeless needed to better their living situations).
Follow Isaiah Thompson on Twitter.
The Homeless Encampment at Richmond and Cumberland
We are not here protesting or to make a statement. We’re homeless. We are sick of being forced to exist alone, sick of being told that shelters, which are not tolerable living facilities for sober people, are an adequate alternative to being “allowed,” by the government, to work, live and share together to create for ourselves, with much less help and expense than the government can do anything, opportunities to provide for ourselves that which our troubled economy cannot.
Philadelphia has about 4,000 homeless people and 40,000 empty dwelling units, but, apparently, unless the wealthy can profit by our occupying these dwellings, they would rather see us alone, with our possessions if not stolen by regular criminals, “confiscated” by police, since we have no place to store anything we can’t carry and are not allowed to congregate to watch one another’s belongings.
To have poverty forced upon us in the land of plenty is no longer a viable solution, if, in fact, it ever was.
I know how to grow food, build structures, build communities … make craftwork to supply cash for what it’s needed for, etc. My friends know how to do the things I don’t. Those who “have” seem satisfied to make sure I don’t “have” opportunity to gather to have a safe place to sleep, let alone organize to provide for our basic needs.
We need the use of at least one abandoned structure. If the law requires it to have electricity and water, the Obama administration provided $21 million to help the homeless, [and] this is a drop in the bucket.
We need an outdoor long-term camping area, close enough to mass transit for us to meet medical, legal, pension and benefits and other needs, and large and separated enough to not disturb our neighbors and start to grow our own food and do art and craftwork, feed one another and see to one another’s daily needs.
In this sort of camp, people who get along can meet one another, … help one another, and be helped by those in the community who believe in, rather than merely preach compassion, to get long-term housing, use our varied skills to rehabilitate abandoned structures as we rehabilitate ourselves and work toward the caring, loving society that many believe we will make happen.
There are many caring people in Philadelphia, whose deeds as well as their words, demonstrate the belief that the present “crisis” is in fact an opportunity to create a land of “Liberty and Justice for All,” rather than a land of “Just us.”
I prefer to remain anonymous; but my name is Paul Klemmer*.
November 30, 2011
[*Printed according to Mr. Klemmer’s request]
Philly's Percent for Art public arts program is adding six new commission around the city in a broad array of media. Pictured is artist Warren Holzman's design for Hawthorne Park in South Philly. The stainless steel sculpture, "Object of Expression," is meant to double as a lectern or soapbox for impromptu performances.
Other projects coming up include "You Are Here," a blue glass installation designed by Ellen Harvey and Jan Baracz for the Terminal F expansion at the airport, featuring an aerial view of the Delaware River; and Carl Marin's design for East Oak Lane's Sturgis Playground, a 70-foot-long fence depicting grazing deer in stainless steel. Check out the rest of the projects here.
City Paper is currently seeking qualified applicants for our Spring 2012 news internship.
First, the responsibilities: News interns are responsible for keeping up with local news, coming up with original, timely and interesting story pitches, and contributing weekly content, whether online or in print. Other duties may include:Fact-checking, blogging, assisting in research, attending/reporting on local meetings and events and attending news meetings. Typically, interns put in 10 to 20 hours per week. However, we understand that interns have other responsibilities and limited time, so schedules can be flexible.
Now the opportunity: We want our interns to be passionate about news, serious about journalism, and ready to pound pavement in search of topnotch stories. In return, we offer the opportunity not only to produce original published work, but also to work alongside an award-winning news team dedicated to producing the highest-quality journalism in Philadelphia. You may be asked to participate in group projects and investigations; you may help develop a recurring web feature; you may stumble on a terrific story — and, if you do, we'll help you report it. Many former news interns have become regular City Paper contributors.
Last, the requirements: News interns must be self-motivated, hardworking, and (this is important) willing to spend a significant amount time outside the office working on stories. Blogging experience is a plus. Knowledge of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods and politics is helpful. Writing and basic reporting skills are essential, and applicants must submit three writing samples, preferably published news pieces, that demonstrate an ability to tell a story that doesn't read like a press release and that is actually, genuinely surprising in some way. If you don't have such a clip, walk out the door, find a story, and write it up!
Students and recent graduates are welcome to apply.Please send a cover letter, resume, and your three best writing samples to samantha@citypaper.net with “INTERNSHIP” in the subject line by Monday, Dec. 5.
The group of about 20 homeless people who have pitched tents under I-95 in Port Richmond say they feel safer than they did in Center City — or at the shelters around Philadelphia. "We have our own policeman right there," joked one of the homeless, Paul Klemmer, gesturing to a Philadelphia Police car parked nearby. They have food and tents donated by Occupy Philly. And the area is spotless, thanks to regular cleanings by this group that left Occupy Philly on Tuesday ahead of the eviction. But their position on this stretch of land is tenuous at best.
It's World AIDS Day today. And ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power), the legendary activist organization that in most city's is a historical item but here in Philly is very much alive and kicking, has been loudly demanding that Mayor Michael Nutter increase housing for people with AIDS.
ACT UP says that the city has committed to announcing a plan on Dec. 14.
"We will consider the plan acceptable if it ends the AIDS housing wait list," says ACT UP member Max Ray, adding that it must target "those most in need who aren't currently eligible for the housing wait list," people like drug and alcohol users and undocumented immigrants.
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